Love Hate Relationship

Chapter 4

CLARKE POV

"Yeah?" Clarke was running around trying to get out the door, her phone caught between her chin and her shoulder.

"Why hello to you too, bestie, why so pleasant?" Raven asked.

"I'm late, and Finn left early, and I've got the damn dog to take care of, and one of my patients had a reaction to some meds, and what the hell else is new in my life?"

"I think you secretly love the chaos."

"I think you're secretly a pain in my ass," Clarke said as she was pulling on her shoes, hopping towards the front door.

"I've solved your dog problem."

"My dog problem? It's Finn's goddamn problem, that trickles down to me when he leaves. It's been a week and most of our furniture is destroyed."

"I could solve your Finn problem too."

"Shut up."

"You still engaged?"

"What? Yes, god what kind of question is that?"

"OK, you say that like you've never called it off before."

"I called it off once."

"Twice, actually."

"Well, twice. OK, yeah. But I was just pms'ing that second time, that shouldn't even count. How did you solve the dog problem?"

"Octavia met some chick at the bar the other night, someone she knew in high school. Next thing you know, they've facebooked, twitted, and whatever else."

"You mean tweeted?"

"What the fuck ever."

"I assume this is leading somewhere?"

"Patience Prudence. So this chick owns a doggie daycare service."

"Yeah, so? When do I have time to drive a dog to doggie daycare, I barely have time to put my bra on."

"Oh, don't forget to do that, you got some big knockers there. You might hurt yourself. Not to mention that none of the men on your floor would get anything done..."

"Raven, the daycare thing." Clarke needed to get her back on topic.

"OK, OK, where was I?"

"I don't know, but you didn't get very far."

"Oh, right, didn't you get my text the other day? The picture of the van? So she has a service where they drive and pick up your dog, take them away for the day, and deliver them back to the house later."

"Keep talking." Clarke was intrigued as she looked down at the dog, he was chewing on Finn's slipper. Served him right.

"That's it, she'll be there in about five minutes."

"What? Wait, today?" Clarke asked incredulously.

"Yeah, so get that pooch ready."

"Jesus, I don't have time for this, I'm late already."

"She'll be there any second. For god's sake it won't kill you to be a couple minutes late. Well, it might kill your patient. But it won't kill you."

"Oh for fuck's sake. OK, I'll wait," she said as she ran her fingers through her hair. Did she even remember to brush it this morning? It felt a little matted.

"Good, she's been taking our two monsters the last three days and they come home all tired and shit, it's a beautiful thing."

"How much does this doggie chauffeur service cost?"

"Just give her your credit card, you can afford it, it's worth every penny."

"Alright, alright, I have to go, the hospital's on the other line." Clarke disconnected Raven and answered the other call,

"Yeah? Did someone give her the IV?" She heard the doorbell ring, "Sue, can you hold on a sec? Thanks."

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LEXA POV

Lexa got out of the van and looked up at the house in front of her. It seemed huge and she just shook her head. Most of her clients lived in these types of houses. It was three floors, gray siding with red trim around the windows and doors, and stone along the bottom. A round turret was off the back of the house and a square turret was at the front of the house.

The top floor seemed to be wall to wall windows. It was a corner property, so there was a lot of yard around it. She had no idea how people could afford to live in these things. The utility bills alone must be horrendously expensive.

She rang the doorbell and waited. She heard someone talking and the door opened.

The woman who opened the door quickly glanced at her, "You here for the dog?"

Lexa nodded, "Yeah, Octavia and Raven told me to come over and get him."

The woman turned and started walking back into the house with the phone stuck to her ear, so Lexa shut the door and followed her.

The woman was a little shorter than Lexa, her wavy, blonde hair falling a couple inches below her shoulders. It was thick. Or it was matted, Lexa couldn't tell.

She passed a large, hairy, orange cat, sitting on the dining room table who gleefully took a swipe at her as she went by. Ugh. Cats. Lexa was solidly a dog person.

"He's around here somewhere, chewing on something I'm sure." The woman didn't turn around, she just kept making her way to the back of the house.

"What's his name?" Lexa asked as she hustled to keep up.

"I really don't know, I have to take this call," and with that she turned her attention back to her phone.

Lexa stared after the blonde, must be a doctor she surmised, since she was in scrubs. Or they were pajamas, maybe she was a bored housewife who just got out of bed. She looked up because the blonde was snapping her fingers at her and pointing under the dining room table. Lexa hated to be snapped at.

She went over to the table and looked under it. There was the dog in question with stuffing hanging out of its mouth. He was a male, and looked like a golden retriever, though not particularly large, probably around forty-five pounds.

"Do you have a leash or something?" Lexa asked the blonde. She was rewarded with an eye roll, and another point while she continued her conversation on the phone. Lexa followed the point to the kitchen and looked around.

She saw a leash and collar hanging off a hook by the door. She grabbed both and went back to the dog. She pulled a treat out of her pocket and he came over to her eagerly, at least he was food motivated.

She gently collared and leashed him and looked back to the blonde, she cleared her throat, "Uh, how do you want to pay for this? We take credit cards, check, cash."

Again the annoyance on the blonde's face was evident. She continued her conversation, which sounded very medical, so she must be a doctor, and went into her briefcase. She pulled out her checkbook, yanked out a check, signed it and handed it over to Lexa.

She looked down at it. What kind of person hands some stranger a blank check? She's either stupidly trusting, or so rich it just didn't matter. Lexa was going with the latter. She folded the check and put it in her pocket.

"I'll bring," she looked down at the tag on the collar, "Oliver back around five, is that good?" She got a nod and figured she was dismissed when the woman turned her back on her.

"Nice to meet you," she mumbled under her breath as she left the house.

Lexa walked Oliver out to her van and loaded him up. She was done picking up and was heading back to the farm. She briefly thought back to the blonde she just met, well, they didn't really meet. Barely spoke actually. Probably born with a silver spoon in her mouth judging by the house she lived in.

And how could you not even know your own dog's name?

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End of Chapter 4